China’s wheat crop suffering through cold winter

China is experiencing its coldest winter in 28 years and the conditions are challenging the country’s winter wheat crop. China is the world’s largest producer of wheat.

Winter wheat in the southern growing regions has been hit by widespread snowfall and lower temperatures since Jan. 2. No estimates have been announced regarding the crop damage.

“So far the general growing condition in the winter-wheat areas remains good and snowfalls are usually beneficial for wheat,” Ma Wenfeng, a grains analyst at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant Ltd., told Bloomberg. “But a drought coupled with low temperatures will hamper growth.”

The recent cold has caused two people to die, and 770,000 in Inner Mongolia have been impacted by bitterly cold, record temperatures. China also reported that 180,000 head of livestock had died as a result of the cold winter.